"Why do you keep staring at me all day long?" "Because of how good you are with children, especially with my nephew…" "That you still haven't held once, by the way. Here, take him in your arms and be careful, they are usually hyperactive at this age with very little impulse control." "No way, our children will be well-behaved and not give anyone an excuse to nitpick at them." "Let he children be children in peace; I shall give my children the best childhood that I possibly can before you impose your rule upon them…" "Yeon, I promise you that I will never be anything like my father at all. But my children will be educated as soon as they can, and they will no be spoiled either. If they want something, they will learn the value of hard work and money." "And what about the opposite sex?" "What are you talking about now?" "With our looks combined with your muscles, of course our children will be the most handsomest throughout the land." "What nonsense." "Well? Does having a baby in your arms make you feel uncomfortable?" "It will be different with my own baby, and my nephew at that. Bo-Geom is alright because she is a girl, but with a boy…it is just different." "And if your daughter is going to be anything like me, which she will be, I already know that she will have you wrapped around her fingers…" "You are a headache enough for me already, but I do need to be prepared for girls. They are…very soft aren't they? And easy to spoil I think so; I do already have a soft spot for Bo-Geom, but that is because she is mature for her age." "She has her mother's beauty and her father's knowledge, of course she shall be mature for her age…" "Young Mistress? Young Master? You have been invited to dine with The Chung family tonight for dinner." "Really? Myself as well?" "Yes, there are the same invitations that have been sent out for the both of you." "What do you think?" "Clearly my sister-in-law is taking her time to deal with this last issue, or they wouldn't have invited us at all. Her presence should have been enough, but she doesn't do much beyond sleuthing. You may need to show her what to do before she settles herself in the palace, and then I can send her on her way tonight along with her son." "Shall I get packing as well? I cannot wait to see my brother and nephew again, as well as the girls. We should really have a private banquet when we move in with my brother." "I will send him a letter now and I will have our servants pack everything for us, so that we can get ready to move tonight…" "Thank you for everything…" "Yeon…" "I love you, Nam Seon-Ho."
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"…what should I do? I fear that there shall no longer be a place for me in this household now that she is pregnant, not to mention this new and already-pregnant combine that will enter this household with her already married sister with children….!" "My Lady, please try to relax! We can do nothing about the pregnant concubines, but your mother-in-law is only going to bring in the divorce for her help in managing your husband's harem, which is what you all need right now. Just wait and see how she handle things before you start panicking like this. She knows her status and will not let anyone be mistreated under this roof any longer." "It is my fault for being this weak and without the proper backing to marry into this family. I was just a kisaeng that he took in on a whim and hasn't looked back on since then. I was only lucky enough to be taken in due to my pregnancy which I failed to protect." "We will give you justice…" "My Lady, I am here to inform you that you must take a break from your bedrest as we will be expecting additional guests for dinner." "Very well, I need to start walking around now to get used to it all again." "Here, let me help you."
"…it really is nice to be in different company for once. Here, Madame Chung, please accept this gift of fabric on my behalf for inviting myself and my guardian for dinner here tonight." "Thank you! This wouldn't happen to be the same fabric that is rumoured to have worked on by yourself before your brother took over the business?" "It is indeed, and my sister-in-law has specifically chosen fabric based on everyone's eye-colour here. But forgive me, I wasn't expecting your husband's niece to show up here as well…and without her husband? But I can see that she is pregnant…so how…" "Young Mistress Seo, my niece happens to be my son's concubine…" "oh…what an interesting dynamic indeed. Forgive me, but last time i checked, concubines do not grace the dinner table in the main home, do they?" "As she is my niece, she does have that privilege…" "…very well, as she is also a concubine, then shouldn't the same privilege be extended to the rest of them? Unless you wish to keep biased favourites, which will then in turn create discord within a harem…" "The Young Mistress Seo seems to talk with a lot of experience for someone who is still unmarried…" "and yet thanks to my brothel experience that was bestowed upon my the this family's patron, The Third Prince himself, I do seem to speak with some experience after all. And if you have any more questions about my brothel experiences, then you may ask him yourself directly since he had me watched and guarded closely every single day."
And just like that, Yeon could bring an entire room into silence without even having to raise her voice at all. And as soon as the groom-to-be entered the room, her forced his so-called cousin concubine to apologise to Yeon, but that still wasn't enough for her. "Didn't one of your concubines loose her baby only this week by being forced to kneel to this so-called cousin of yours? If she can kneel for a few seconds, I am pretty sure this cousin of yours can do the same, unless you really do wish to instil favourites in this home and sow discord in your son's harem, Madame Chung?" "I simply could not agree more, Young Mistress, but I have very little authority when it comes to her since she is my husband's niece…" "I myself am not really a follower of Confucius, but it doesn't mean that everyone around me is the same. And what I can remember from the rules, it is the woman's job to rule the home whilst the man goes out into the world to provide for this family. And I also heard a rumour that this opulent home of yours was purchased and passed down to you from your parents? As far as that goes, this home is primarily yours, so everyone who has shelter under this roof must be enforced by your rules before you bother your husband with trivialities such s disciplining a concubine and putting her in her place, isn't that correct? And mustn't your son have the rank of Duke and above to even take in family members as concubines? Or am I mistaken?" "I…" "It is no secret that this family's patron is already on very thin ice when it comes to his father so soon after the death of his wife, and what better way to return the support by listening to the rules and…" "and what about my baby! What do you expect me to do about that! I must stay by my cousins side, even if I am to become his maid!"
"Really? That solves it then, you can become a maid and let the first grandchild of this home be brought up by the main wife or the concubine who has just suffered a miscarriage, what do you think? Because for you to make a suggestion like that to impulsively throw away your position at a whim clearly shows your lack of education and appreciation for your good fortune. Are we then to presume that you will teach your child in the same manner? To be reckless, impulsive, arrogant and ungrateful? To expand his greed and selfish desires on a whim?"
"I…no, I didn't mean that….I…forgive me, I must have momentarily lost my head…" "So you admit to having unstable mood-swings as well? Which can only worsen with postpartum after brith….but I am not from this family, so what say you, Madame Chung?I understand that these concubines were randomly picked and that they all lack talent, education and etiquette, the very principles that children need growing up." "You do have a fair point for someone so young, Young Mistress Seo." "Forgive me, but I have only just turned into an aunt some weeks ago and I simply cannot get children off of my mind now." "Really? So when shall we receive news of your own marriage?" "Hopefully soon, within the year if it is possible."
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If seeing was believing, then I would have rather not seen anything at all after trekking here from the palace in the dark with very little help and provisions. My jealousy for Yeon was a disease while my love for Seon-Ho is a healthy condition that makes me feel warm inside. But sometimes, the immature mind often mistakes one for the other, or assumes that the greater the love, the greater the jealousy. But I have always seen them as incompatible; one emotion hardly leaves room for the other. Jealousy was like poison that diluted my mind and my heart, it was like thorns in my flesh that would not let me be and it was like a fireball that was eating me up inside when I came to his residence, only to see that he had already packed up everything and had it sent over to her brother's home. And not only that, they were invited to a dinner banquet as a successful couple with one of the most prestigious homes in the kingdom. They were feasting, playing chess and drawing with each other all night long, which would mean that they would be staying the night there together…they would together all night long; staring at each other, caressing each other, staying in each other's sight all night long where could carry out their silly flirtations in secret. They will feed each other, they will undress each other and they will be intoxicated with each other behind closed doors whilst I withered away here with the only thing she couldn't give him; opium.